Lewis Hamilton said that opting to run without the F-duct was probably the wrong decision after the championship leader qualified only fifth fastest for the Italian Grand Prix.

Team-mate Jenson Button, who decided to run with the F-duct, vindicated his decision by qualifying on the front row alongside pole-sitter Fernando Alonso.

"I think it potentially had quite a big impact on the end result and I am quite disappointed with fifth place," said Hamilton. "We chose to go with the lighter low-downforce set-up which doesn't have the F-duct and the car was sliding everywhere, so I struggled quite a lot on each tyre and it just didn't have the downforce. So wrong choice, a bit of a mistake but we'll still push hard tomorrow."

Despite his own struggles, Hamilton was quick to praise the efforts of his team-mate.

"I have to congratulate Jenson on doing a great job. Today wasn't my best qualifying performance of the season, but we'll still push like crazy tomorrow and fight for some good points from the third row. It looks like it'll be a tough race."

The International Rugby Board (IRB) have stripped Australia of the right to host a round of the World Sevens Series, scheduled for Brisbane on 16-17 February, after the Australian government's refusal to provide visas for the squad from Fiji